Question

Should I get an epidural or not? What did you do and what was your experience like?

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I am 16 weeks pregnant with my first child and even though I still have a long ways to go I don't know if I should get an epidural or do a natural birth. My mom had 6 kids naturally and is telling me that an epidural is unnecessary and that I won't get a strong urge to push if I get it. My sister had one child naturally and one with the epidural and also says I shouldn't get it. Is it a lot more painful without one? What do you recommend that I do? Thanks

Mom Answers

I have had 4 children, 3 natural and my last one with the epidural and let me tell you, I keep asking myself why did I ever put my self thru natural birth, is just not worth the pain, actually some women(like me) tense on pain and that makes the labor alot longer, my first labor was over 37 hours and the same with the next 2 but my last one was only 7 and I was induced (also with my third one) the fact that I was not in pain helped me relax, I was sleeping alot and had an amazing birth! there is no need to be in all that pain, some people say that natural is the way it was intented by nature but at the same time back in the day they use to do surgery with no anesthesia no need for that now. is your body and you have to do what is best for you, my last birth was the nices experiece of all of them just because I was not screaming of pain. good luck and don't listent to the people that will try to judge you, is your body

I have 4 children and tried an epidural 4x. My epidural was textbook with my first delivery as I did feel any pain but I also did not feel the urge to push so it took me an hour to push my baby out. WIth my second I got an epidural but all of the medicine pooled into my right leg giving me a dead leg but did nothing to relieve my cx so I inadvertantly had a natural birth. Only took 2 pushes and she was out. Thinking that the epi fail with #2 was a fluke I tried an epi again with #3 and had the EXACT same thing happen. I tried to go natural with #4 but was induced and the pitocin cx was so much harder and faster than my prior 2 deliveries that I was begging for the epi. And once again it failed. So to answer your question: an epidural can be great when it works; there is no guranatee that it will work properly; and while labor is the worst pain you will ever experience it is tolerable and you can do it naturally if you want to. Only you can make the decision that is best for you

Full disclosure: I am an anesthesiologist and a future dad (in eight weeks!). My wife has the same question you do. I am trying to provide her with all of the facts and all of the options about pain relief during labor. As anesthesiologists, we are around to help regardless of whether or not you choose to have an epidural!

It's really up to you. No one can make that decision for you and nobody should judge you for whatever choice you go with. If you have a hard time choosing, discuss your concerns with your doctor. There are a lots of pros and cons in getting the epidural, so I would suggest learning about them first and then make an informative decision. I went all natural for my first and plan on doing the same for my 2nd due later this year. It's a personal choice. Good Luck Hun!

This is a very hard decision to make. I got an epidural and had a wonderful experience. It does not harm the baby in any way shape or form. The concern is long lasting effects that can take place on the mother if it is not done right. However, despite my worries, I got the epidural and it was the best decision I made. I didn't feel a thing! I honestly wouldn't have known my daughter came out if I wasn't looking, seriously! haha! The only "bad" part I guess you can say about this is that I had zero urge to push, so therefore I had no idea when to push, but my OB and the nurses were there to guide me and my daughter came out perfectly fine after an hour and 20 minutes of pushing. It was difficult to walk for the first few hours after I gave birth, but I was laying down mostly anyways. I didn't know who the anesthesiologist was prior to going to the hospital, but it may make you feel better to research the ones at the hospital you are going to, to see what others say about them. Good luck

I also remember progressing labor very well up to 8cm but after a few hours of getting epidural, my baby's heartbeat fell so suddenly that they had to take him out via emergency C-section which is totally not part of our plan. I read that epidural increases the chance of giving birth by c-section however I do not know if my case proves this. If this was right, I regret getting epidural. Right now, I am focusing on improving my postpartum backaches. I also remember getting chills and shivering while and after giving birth.

My baby is on his 7th month now. Getting epid is really a personal choice. In my case I was playing it by ear but I considered getting one once labor pain gets very intolerable. I am happy to say that I could handle labor pains quite well unfortunately my OB decided to give me epid to make my first labor and birth experience virtually painless. I guess she was right because once the epid started working, I could not feel an ounce of labor pain, not even the contractions. However, the injection was very painful and a pretty tough experience for me. Something I could never forget. After 7 months of giving birth, I experience tremendous backaches. The pain is irregular or not caused by anything strenuous like lifting or so but when you do feel it, it really hurts. My husband pities me when I get these backache. Massaging it for me aggravates the pain and is even more painful than labor which I find very disturbing. When it attacks, you can barely move and it is really excruciating.

It's completely up to you, but I will say that my experience with an epidural was fantastic. I was in labor for three days, but with the epidural I was able to visit with my family members that would come and go and relax, I would've been so worn out if I hadn't had it.

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